Brave lady, love how this mum shared the reality of being a mum on her social media account. I love the first picture, as it speaks to me about a ‘real’ day mothering, while the second one is the one most of us are more likely to upload!
She said she did it to show how her life as a mum varies daily:
“I feel like it’s time to show you what that can really look like, not just the side of me that’s “Facebook worthy,” US mum Kathy DiVincenzo wrote.
“The truth is, both of these pictures represent my life depending on the day.
“I would only ever comfortably share one of these realities though and that’s the problem. The only thing more exhausting than having these conditions* is pretending daily that I don’t.
“I work twice as hard to hide this reality from you because I’m afraid to make you uncomfortable.
“I’m afraid you’ll think I’m weak, crazy, a terrible mother, or the other million things my mind convinces me of and I know I’m not alone in those thoughts.”
Going deeper
She goes on to say, “We need to stop assuming that the postpartum period is always euphoric, because for 1 in 7 it’s not. We need to start asking new parents how they’re doing in a deeper way than the normal, “so how are you doing?” that triggers the knee jerk, “everything’s great!” response. We need to learn the signs, symptoms, risk factors, and support plans for postpartum conditions.”
Awesome, Kathy. Busting the myths, I like it.
*Kathy struggles with post natal depression, anxiety and OCD.
